A club feel

Tonight's coaching session went well with the younger kids playing a little match and the older ones in focus groups moving between the different aspects of the game.

What was more encouraging was the parents coming into the clubhouse and using the bar and perusing the many photgraphs displaying our proud history. Many thanks to Pritts for ensuring that they were all welcomed including the cups of tea and coffee he served to the Mums.

Swingball

We all went over to Chief's place to celebrate j's birthday this afternoon. He turned 8 today but he is a boy beyond his years. After we got there he started to open a mountain of presents from friends and family and looked genuinely delighted with each and every gift. The atmosphere was great and we spent our time drifting in and out of the house and the back garden enjoying the sun and birthday cake.
We all took it in turns playing the swingball that had been installed, I was soundly beaten by j on a number of occasions. Watching J and his brother Chief, both 6' 4", smashing the ball round the pole to each other had us all in stitches. Each and every strike seemed to be harder; the ball was just a blur. Next up was Babe and P producing some long rallies and as many laughs.
Happy Birthday j !!!

This morning had been a happy time too. It was our youth team's first cricket match ever, pitting a very young side against a strong local team 2 to 3 years their senior. Our boys aquitted themselves very well and making me and their club very proud. Our seamers were making the ball swing and caused some of the opposition's good batsmen a bit of trouble at times. All the kids were buzzing after the game, thrilled to have been a part of it no matter how heavily they had got beaten.

Delight tinged with disappointment

As planned Hebbo and I met up this morning for a spot of breakfast followed by a net session. He amazes me every time that I see him take on some sporting activity. It was only October when he broke his leg in an horrendous accident playing football and he had been told that he wouldn't play sports again let alone walk properly. But there is something about him, something special that sets him apart from your average bloke and he has made what can only be described as a miraculous recovery. He is running well and even kicking footballs around again, obviously some way off playing competitively but you would never have believed that he would have been doing this if you had seen him back in October.
He had told me that he had been netting and that he was bowling again but I didn't realise how well he had been doing until I saw it first hand this morning. I am trully delighted for him as he is an extremely talented cricketer and the game will be better off for having him play it.

We finished up around 11:30 and made our way to our matches. My mood started to drop as I got closer to the clubhouse knowing that I was destined to field all day, watch others bat and then pay for the privilege. So imagine my surprise when the skipper tossed me the ball, albeit after making a balls up with the bowling order, and asked me to have a little trundle. I impressed myself with my line and length, the ball flighted well but still going through the air that bit quicker than I normally manage it. It had the desired effect, I took two wickets, got through my overs pretty quickly and was genuinely delighted to have played a little part in the game that I wasn't expecting. We had restricted a strong batting side to 214 on a very good track and fast outfield; my second wicket wrapped the innings up and ensured that we didn't concede any penalty for taking too long to bowl our overs.
The boys batted well as I watched from my number 7 spot and we always kept ourselves in the frame to win. When out fifth wicket fell I remained glued to my seat as our illustrious captain had decided to promote SemiPro above me. He is a much, much better batsman than me and also had form on his side so I was in no place to complain but the plain fact is that he should never have been that far down the order anyway. Thankfully he and Bandai saw us home with overs to spare, SemiPro hitting 2 big sixes in a row. So a big cup win for the club against a very strong side from our division, I'm always delighted to win amongst my mates but can't hide my disappointment at being overlooked time and again.

1st BBQ of the year

We all went over to Big Mama's for the first barbeque of the year. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as good as we had hoped but we were all out in the garden anyway and the food was fantastic.
I love the smell of the burning coals, it really gives you a feeling of summer, although it's bizarre that we are still in April and doing this.
The dartboard came out as it usually does and we played 301 until Jackster finished with a double 8 leaving me and my Father-in-law stunned.
We retired to the lounge and watched 'My Family' followed by 'Have I got news for you' until it was time to go home.
I couldn't sleep for some reason so sat up and watched the television for a while until my eyes started to sting.

Training

We fitted the net on the cage tonight to ensure that we can train properly in the coming weeks. Last week's session had been a bit of a farce without it so this was an important job to get done. Once finished we had an impromptu catching drill with Prittsy launching cricket balls high in the air with me, Robins and Herman underneath them.
A beer and a bit of the Sri Lanka vs New Zealand cricket world cup semi-final later I was trotting out for football training.

Half Time

We went over to Chief's place tonight, I watched the football whilst she got her beauty treatments. One of our Nephews was in fits of laughter all night seemingly about anything whilst his brother who is growing up fast and taking on a quieter demeanour joined us watching the Champions League semi-final.
It was a good match and Chelsea certainly dominated the first half deserving their 1 - 0 lead at the break. The second forty five was a slightly different matter as they came under pressure from Liverpool but managed to restrict them to very few real chances. In an ideal world Chelsea would have finished the tie in this leg, they had the opportunities to make their lead 2 or 3 goals but I would have taken 1 at the start of the match.
The tie is delicately poised now for the second leg. Liverpool will have to come out at home to score and this will hopefully provide the Blues with further chances to strike the killer blow. An away goal at Anfield will surely do the job.
1 nil at half time.

Selection

I was devastated as it dawned on me that I was going to be treated this season in much the same way that I was treated last season. It seems that my place in our first team is for my fielding only as I watched my name go 7 on the list with a batsman who struggled in the 2nd XI last year was given the opening berth.

Did my efforts over the weekend count for nothing? Am I not one of the in-form batsmen?

Clearly not, as when the opener who had just been generously given a start phoned in to say that he would be unavailable, another batsman was brought up from the 2nd team and drafted straight into the number 1 slot, whilst I remained lingering at 7! I was livid, especially given that this second usurper had only manged single figures against a weak attack on Sunday.
If this is coming over as a rant against the players picked in favour of me then I want to make it clear that I hold no grudge against them. They can only play where they are asked to. Some of them may well be better players than me and I wont dispute that but in my eyes form is key and a week watching others bat will do nothing to keep me in the good touch that I felt last weekend.
I bit my tongue and vowed to let the skipper know my displeasure if indeed I was number 7 on Saturday.

Mayhem

I turned up to the coaching session about 30 minutes early to get prepared as I knew we were at least one coach down. 3 of the lads turned up about 15 minutes early so I went back into the clubhouse to get the kit out. By the time I walked out the front door again there were 18 or 20 kids standing there all asking different questions simultaneously, their parents all wanting to pay the fees, subscription or purchase the kit! As more kids turned up I started to panic, here I was on my own with 33 kids potentially about to cause havoc unless they were given some direction. There are as few simple fielding drills which can include all the kids at once so I started with one of those just to make sure that they were active, I asked all the parents if we could deal with monies at the end of the session and then kept my fingers crossed that one of the other coaches would turn up early.
Thankfully Herman and DelBoy turned up fairly quickly and we were able to break the horde down into more manageble groups. The session turned out to be a roaring success, the kids loving the little games we set up and the parents sat on the sideline watching. We had something like 10 or 12 new kids turn up this week and we also had a good number of the existing group sign their forms. What had started as a desperate effort to introduce a few kids to cricket at our club has become a strong and ever growing youth section with some very promising players. I'm proud to have been instrumental in the success so far and I'm sure that all the kids will be doing me proud out on the field each week. To all that have helped me in this endeavour I pass my hearty thanks.

2-1-49-2-1-0-1

Not a strange and wonderful new mathematical series but rather the summary of my Sunday.

We were defeated 2-1 away to Jubilee in what was a good game of football played in the right spirit. Had we turned up with more than 11 players and been able to substitute in the searing heat we may have been able to get something out of the game.

I made 49 batting at number 4 against Merrow narrowlt avoiding another jug (I hope this doesn't become a regular thing) and even managed to turn my arm over for a cameo at the end end returning figures of:

2 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets for 1 run.

Opener?

The season got underway today with an interclub match pitting players across the spectrum of the club against each other in a light hearted by keenly contested game. It was also an opportunity to introduce the younger members of our club to senior cricket and to get a look at some of the new players upon whom we will undoubtedly be pinning some hopes on for the forthcoming season.
Chasing 202 I opened the batting with Robins against Bear and SemiPro. I took to the crease with as much protection as possible, pads, gloves, helmet, arm guard, box and chest guard. I even wore a jumper in the searing heat just to add an extra layer to absorb some of the pace of SemiPro's bowling.
Little did I know that I would only face 3 or 4 balls from him whilst watching my strike partners get skittled at the other end. Standing at the non-striker's end is the best protection in the game.
46 runs later I played all round a straight one and made my way to the changing rooms having avoided the purchase of a jug. I must learn to convert a good start.
What was heartening was the display laid on by our youth players. Each of them produced some fine performances in the field and bowled well too. Their batting stood up pretty well with one in particular looking like he has a good future in the game.
"Now, where is the bar?"

Happy Birthday Dad!

I hope you had a great day Dad, you deserve it! I really enjoyed our chats this evening and later on and I hope you understand that I was just doing my duty by pinching an oinion bhajee. I know you'll like your main present and I'm sure that the second will go down well.

My Father shares his birthday with Adolf Hitler. This in itself is quite a scary thing but couple that with my Mother sharing her birthday with Eva Braun and the coincidences take on a sinister feel.

I dare not check who I may share a birthday with :S

New Home

Bruv and his wife proudly showed off their new home to me tonight. It's a really spacious place and perfect for the two of them. I'm really pleased for them that they are finally owners rather than tenants although they both said that it was taking a while to sink in that they no longer answered to a landlady.
There is a well known saying often used to describe what to look for in a property...

"Location, location, location."

Well, situated directly above the local pizza place this little number can certainly claim to be well located :)

I'll be keeping an eye on their waistlines in the coming months as I'm sure that they will struggle to resist the temptation!

Massage

I have never felt so relaxed in my life. Many, many thanks to P for her healing hands!

I have been in need of a good massage for a number of months and this was a second attempt to keep a booking I made some time back. Let me tell you that it was well worth the wait. It is amazing how relaxed your body can become when relieved of the stresses and strains of day to day life. I think that my incessant chat at the beginning was a little off-putting but she persevered and about half way through a full body massage I was drifting off. I'm sure that at some point I was asleep, it was just bliss.

"Right, when can I book again?"

The Handover

Marking the official beginning of our cricket season we took control of the clubhouse again today.

Sharing it with a football club has it's downsides. The place was in a real mess tonight and looked far from the cosy club rooms of last season. It doesn't help that the walls are missing the photos of past players and the trophy cabinet is bare but even so...

We were supposed to be all out to prepare for the forthcoming season opener on Friday but delays with the handover meant that a proper clean up wouldn't take place until later in the week. Time for a quick beer and a recount of the weekend, catching up with friends and looking forward to what this season may bring.

Broken Record

I felt like a broken record as a recounted the same mantra for 30 minutes each hour throughout the day. I would say that it will be nice to have a change tomorrow, but no such luck.

Whirlwind

We saw one of our nephews today, in his Nan and Grandad's back garden in the sun. He has grown so much since the last time I saw him but what stood out the most was the way in which he has matured as a little person. He was playing with toy cars on the paving slabs and I joined him for a bit. I was thinking to myself that it wasn't so long ago that I was doing something like that. The last time that I saw him he was at the stage where he would pick any toy up and wave it around or throw it about; today he was there 'driving' the cars around.
Another trait he has picked up is to court a little controversy. He's pushing each and every boundary to see what he can get away with and what is out of bounds. It was like a little whirlwind had hit the garden as piece by piece the ornaments were pushed until they toppled over. "No", said Big Mama. "NO", said P, "NO!!!" shouted Chief. It was only when there was a little feeling put into the command that he stopped, stared at his father and knew that the boundary had been crossed. He still looked around the garden with an air of someone planning their next 'job' though :-)
When we got home we split the jobs between us, I cooked the roast beef and by so doing avoided mowing the lawn. The dinner was a roaring success. For the first time I got my timings right across the board, I was like a whirlwind in the kitchen!

Do not pass go. Do not collet £200.

"Who's brought the get out of jail free card?" we all joked as we sat on the train headed for London Waterloo. "Beer anyone?" said AL clearly starting as he meant to go on. It was his 21st birthday and we were all going to attempt to pub crawl around the Monopoly board. Starting with a couple of beers on the train was probably not the best move but we were all having a laugh spurred on by SemiPro who was in particularly good form.

Our effort to make all 26 pubs (22 spaces that you can build on and the 4 train stations) took a blow right at the start as we struggled to find a pub that was open on the Old Kent Road but we got there in the end. It amazes me that so many pubs were shut in London but I'm not a city boy so maybe I'm not up with what goes on in town. The barmaid in The George must have thought we were a bunch of amateurs as she told us that we were an hour late starting and would have been better off starting with halves instead of pints! Apparently 3 groups had already been through.

We had opted for the quickest route encompassing each of the spaces rather than going for each one in order to avoid criss-crossing London which was probably a good idea but in all honesty we were never likely to make it to the end from the word "Go" (pun intended).

We found some excellent pubs en route, The Castle on Pentonville Road was particularly good given it's roof top beer garden and the blazing hot weather. Having moved on SemiPro displayed his skills on the ivories by giving an excellent rendition of "It's a little bit funny" by Elton John whilst the pub DJ kindly bought AL a birthday drink.

The pints were beginning to take their toll and we soon reverted to the halves so rightly advised by our first barmaid. We made the fatal error of taking a seat in The Rocket in Euston Road and never really got back on the crawl properly after that. I think we took in 2 or 3 pints here which was the start of the end but the day was clearly being enjoyed by all so no-one was too worried.

My brother has an in-built failsafe for when he goes out drinking, he falls asleep. He's never sick and never causes trouble but almost always catches some Z's. This led to an ejection from a bar but we were able to find another with seating outside so he could nap in a chair whilst the rest of us carried on drinking.

It was a combination of SemiPro's attempt to do the chivalrous thing by escorting a lady home and us trying to coax Sleepy toward the taxi rank that saw us miss our chance to get the last train home. I will not take the blame even though I was buying some food. So we embarked on a £160 taxi fare across London and back home to what was undoubtedly going to be an enormous hangover!

Many thanks should go to the guys over at Monopoly Pub Crawl whose maps and guides helped us get as far as we did (14 I think?).

"Right, who is up for the circle line?"

Friday 13th

This day has never held any problems for me, in fact I have always rather enjoyed Friday 13th.

Today was beautiful, the weather was once again fantastic and things went like a dream throughout. It's silly how the simple things can make you happy but indeed they did. We started to watch a good film with a couple of glasses of wine and settled in for the night.

Lovely!

Covers

Normally covers, remakes or adaptations of any form of entertainment fail to live up to the originals in my eyes. I really hate a bad cover!
Sometimes though someone gets it oh so right and this time Mark Ronson has done just that. His take on the Smiths' classic "Stop me if you think you've heard this one before", adding a break beat and the unique voice of Daniel Merriweather, is an absolutely awesome track. 'Stop Me' rates as one of the very best tracks that I have heard recently; you can go to Mark's myspace page to listen to it and other tracks from his forthcoming album 'Version'. I hope you get on with it as much as I did.
I grew up with a wide range of influences on my taste in music, my eldest brother has a very definitive genre whereas my parents having grown up whilst the Beatles were in their pomp yet tempered with their families backgrounds have finer favourites. Ronson has appealed to a number of the different aspects of my view on music with this track and I will definitely be looking out for more.

No net

I had been looking forward to netting tonight with some of the lads at the cricket club. The plans had been laid for some time. I collected the bowling machine, we all tried to arm ourselves with extension leads, D had kindly arranged to meet us with the keys to the club only to find that when we got there the net had been removed from the cage!

"Bugger"

So we had a beer and watched a bit of England attempting to claw defeat from the jaws of victory. Thankfully they couldn't quite manage it :-)

Happy brithday Big Ted!

Today was Big Ted's birthday and it coincided with a chance to see my niece before she went away again.
I found a suitably funny card for Big Ted involving flatulence which made him roar with laughter. Toilet humour has always been his forte.
I managed to raise another laugh when I imparted my story of the day whereby my arm had become a little too familiar with a hot cup of tea and the offending receptacle and it's contents were spread across my trousers, shoes and the lift floor! The culprit's face at various points during the meeting was a picture as he repeatedly apologised for his misdemeanour :-)
Back on the birthday theme I had, with one thing and another, been unable to spend the promised day shopping with my niece to make up for her not being here for her special day. She departs tomorrow so it's an opportunity missed but before I left she proudly gave me her e-mail address and mobile number so I promised to get in touch to find out what she wanted.
Chelsea won to see them through to the semi-final of the UEFA Champion's League which topped off a really good day for all these reasons and much more.

A day to forget

Today didn't start well.
Our destination didn't live up to what I had hoped.
The weather was lovely during the journey there and overcast whilst we lay on the beach.
We missed dinner.
All in all one to forget.

Tempus Fugit

I had been invited to Sunday lunch by Dad earlier in the week, "Why don't you join us?" he asked, "We're having roast leg of lamb." That sounded delicious but I wasn't certain what our plans were so had to ask if I could get back to him.
Last night I did saying that I would be delighted to join them only to find that chicken would be the order of the day as the temptation had proved too much for them and Maundy Thursday's dinner had put paid to any ideas of lamb on Sunday. So chicken it was and mighty fine too, dad had once again cooked a marvelous dinner and I enjoyed every bit.
I had supplied some wine and a bread sauce mix, for I love bread sauce. We quaffed and ate whilst talking on a seemingly endless range of subjects. We had started talking about Nan in the main which had put a smile on all our faces; she was such a wonderful lady with a wicked sense of humour. Memories of our times in Ireland surfaced as is often the case when the conversation revolves around her, it was obviously a place where mum and Big Ted were very happy as kids and I always enjoyed my trips there too.
When I look back at conversations it is often difficult to remember how subjects changed within them. We had sat for hours around the table covering politics, history, family and language; we even hit on blogging at one point. This diverse mix of content seems strange now looking back on the evening but when you are happy amongst those around you the conversation flows without need for pause or explanation.
When I looked at the clock I couldn't believe the time, it had only seemed like 2 maybe 3 hours had gone at best. I suppose the age old saying rings true,

"Time flies when you're having fun!"

Aborted trip

Our plan to head for the coast never came to fruition yesterday. The morning held promise but the day remained overcast throughout and I guess it just wouldn't have been the same. Instead we enjoyed a lie in, a leisurely breakfast and then made for the supermarket to stock up in between the bank holidays.
The afternoon drifted by pleasantly and then I made for Mum and Dad's to catch up with them and all their news. Dad welcomed me in as Mum was departing to attend today's Church service, we sat and talked for hours about everything and nothing. My father is an intelligent man and I have always had a deep respect for what he knows and the views he holds. I enjoy our chats even though they often result in a 'heated debate', for me this is part of the fun and I'm sure that he likes to spar too. Tonight however I was happy just to listen as he reminisced about old friends and talked of plans for his retirement.
"Make that trip Dad, don't miss the opportunity."

Good Friday

I definitely had a Good Friday.

It was a perfect start to what I hope will be a lovely weekend. The day began with a delicious cooked breakfast followed by a laze in the garden soaking up the sun. As with yesterday it got quite hot at times and the morning was spent drifting in and out of the house but always keeping the back door open. I started The Fifth Elephant a book written by Terry Pratchett and made the most of a comfy sun lounger and the good weather.

We went to a pub for lunch, sitting outside in what must have been more than 20 degrees celsius although the car gauge read 17 on the way home. We hadn't been to The Crispin before but had often driven past it and thought that we should give it a try. It certainly lived up to our expectations and I'm sure we will make a return visit soon.

The journey there and back was made with the roof down, a rare luxury given the time of year. Before heading home we stopped off to pick up 2 ice creams from our favourite van. "Two regular ninety nines please" I said surrounded by little kids eager to get to the front of the queue. I felt like the biggest kid in town as he handed me two enormous cones with flakes, a huge smile on my face and no doubt ice cream around my mouth I headed back to the car where we scoffed them down and then made for home.

Reading by sunlight

It has been months of reading in the gloom or artificial light now and so to have an opportunity like this was sensational.
I sat in the garden at the bench, book in hand and felt the warmth beating down on me. You wouldn't believe that this is early April and the time was 17:30.
Admittedly I was sheltered from any wind and the sun was falling directly in line with the place I had perched myself but still it felt unusually hot. I could feel the tingle on my skin after about an hour and knew it was time to find some shade (for I have fair skin) but that 60 minutes was bliss.
Roll on summer.

Bopara's brilliance not quite enough...

What a game, what a fantastic match! I had only just been saying to a friend that it was a shame that the ICC Cricket World Cup matches were turning in to drab affairs the other day, now I get presented with England (not in the best form up to this point) vs Sri Lanka (many tipping them as winners of the competition) and a result that was only achieved from the last ball of the match and that was a wicket!
England's term in the field had been business like. There were no flashes of brilliance tempered by reams of poor deliveries or mis-fields, rather the bowlers found rythm and the fielders did what everyone expects of them. For once they looked in control and that they knew they were too. There seemed to be a self belief in the side that had been missing throughout the tournament so far. Bowling Sri Lanka out for 235 was a good effort and ensured that barring disaster there would be a good game in the offing.
England's dismal starts to matches continued with the captain Michael Vaughan chasing a leg side wide and feathering a touch into Sangakkara's gloves. At 1 - 1 I put my head into my hands and pretty much wrote the rest of the innings off, however Ian Bell showed what everyone knows he is capable of with 47 before being run out in extremely unlucky circumstances. England then faltered with the next 3 wickets falling in the space of 32 runs, a mix of brilliance from Muralitharan to get a return catch from Pietersen, a moment of madness from Flintoff as he thumped a slower ball straight up in the air and a rare mistake by Collingwood getting trapped in front of middle and off stump.
Nixon and Bopara, the oldest and youngest members of the side today were now partners at the crease and to my joy they played as if they had been strike partners for many years. Nixon at one point smashed a 6 off Murali with a reverse sweep! I know people say that he is a good player of spin but that was just sublime. It was Bopara though who impressed the most. His measured shots and cool head in the situation slowly but surely edged England closer to the target. A beautiful flick from outside off stump, over his left shoulder and short fine leg for four was probably the sweetest shot of his innings. Unfortunately for him and England Fernando took his wicket with the last delivery of the match to snatch a 2 run victory. Bopara had made a maiden 50 and deserves all the plaudits he will undoubtedly get. We have an all rounder of serious potential there, lets hope that he is nurtured.

Elite

Whilst reading Petite Anglaise today I checked out her '34 things' link and was surprised to find the following at item 17:

I was a 13 yr old Elite narcotics trader and galactic fugitive.

Elite, for those of you who don't know, was a computer game back in the 80's which combined 3D space borne combat with the cut and thrust of trading goods for a living. Items of all types could be traded for varying gains but the more nefarious gamer could make a quick 'credit' by dealing in narcotics, arms and/or slaves.

"Phew" I hear you sigh as the realisation that Petite wasn't in fact a drug dealer in her youth abounds.

I too whiled many hours away in front of our Amstrad CPC 6128 playing at being Commander Jameson, building up a heavily armed Cobra MKIII and then mis-jumping into witch space during a hyperspace jump just to go "Thargoid bashing" as my brothers used to put it. I can almost hear The Blue Danube playing as I fly down memory lane, trying to align my ship with the spinning entrance of the docking station. Elite, what a game!

So thanks to Petite Anglaise for a little nostalgia.

Four Days

You know the feeling that you get when you find a stray £10 note in your pocket that you forgot was ever there? Well I sort of had that feeling today.
It wasn't until about 18:45 that I found out that this working week was only four days long and that given the time one of those had already passed. Added to that, the realisation that the weekend would also be four days long as would the following working week made for a very happy Casper.

:D

What no roast?

"I would like to order 2 roast beef Sunday lunches please." I said to the barmaid at the Harvester pub. "I'm sorry," came the reply from her manager over his shoulder "we don't do roasts anymore." I had to check with him twice that he wasn't pulling my leg, can you believe it a chain of pubs renowned for serving British fare at reasonable prices have dropped roast dinners from their menu!
I must confess that it has been a while since I have been to a Harvester so I'm not sure whether this is a recent change or not but it's still not a welcome one. T and I checked the menu for an alternative but the prices seemed inflated and the choices limited so we decided against it and departed to make our own arrangements at home.